Coatings and arrays help put medication where it’s needed

Small tech is helping medicinal molecules such as proteins, peptides, genes and vaccines reach the right destination with greater precision, speed and control.

Researchers are developing devices that can deliver drugs to specific structures within the cell. Others are developing devices to be implanted under a patient’s skin or in the abdomen that would provide tiny, precise doses of hormones, pain medication or other pharmaceuticals on a customizable schedule.

Biosensors are also being developed that could trigger releases by detecting blood sugar levels or other biochemical conditions.